The news we'd been waiting for, when it came, came by email late yesterday afternoon.
The first paragraph read:
Dear Mr Perrin
Free School Application: Paces
27 September 2011
I am pleased to inform you that after careful consideration, your application to establish a Special Free School in Sheffield will progress to the financial assessment stage of the Special Free Schools process.
The rest of the evening I spent ringing and emailing around the great news, as you wil imagine. Congratulations, especially to the core team responsible for the Proposal and those who submitted themselves to the DfE interview in London in August, poured in by email, twitter and Facebook. We are thrilled to say a huge thanks to Paces' many friends.
What does it mean for conductive education? Let us pause before we attempt an answer. Two elements are key to the Free Schools policy and "offer": (1) the word "Free" relates to freedom from local authority control and (2) funding will come from central government. In the exceptional case of Special Free Schools, however, both of these remain to be resolved.
In the matter of funding, interim arrangements will apply until the outcomes of the Government’s Consultation on funding are known which will determine the basis of a long term funding system for all schools including Special Free Schools. This will not be before the first Special Free Schools open in September 2012.
In the matter of freedom from local authorities, the SEND Green Paper sets out a strong role for local authorities with regard to SEN and until, at least, the funding arrangements are resolved, the precise role of local authorities in relation to Special Free Schools will not be entirely resolved.
Given these two caveats, I am perfectly clear that Special Free Schools will have the same freedoms as all Free Schools and Academies to arrange the curriculum, appoint staff and so on, as we wish and that Free Schools will be as much part of the educational mainstream as local authority schools and the increasing number of Academies. In Sheffield, we already know that when we "open" (all being well) as a Special Free School in September 2012, Paces School - a conductive education school founded by parents - will be part of the local "family of schools", a major stage on the long, long journey from 1986 or, for us in Sheffield, from 1992.
Let me just mention, too, that in November 2010 Paces School was formally declared to be a "Good" school, and, informally, in several respects "outstanding".
In all, a cause, I think, for a modest celebration!
